A new araneid genus from the Galapagos
Islands (Araneae: Araneidae)
Herbert W. Levi
ABSTRACT Contrib. Nat. Hist. 12: 893–898.
A new araneid, Galaporella thaleri sp. nov., similar to species of the genus Mangora
is described from the Galapagos Islands.
Keywords: Taxonomy, Araneae, Araneidae, new genus, new species, Galapagos Islands.
Introduction
For some years I have been puzzled about the generic placement of a male
specimen from the Galapagos Islands. Additional specimens, including females,
recently became available to me. All come from the Galapagos Islands and
look superficially like Mangora, but on careful examination lack some Mangora characters. African genera related to Mangora are described by Grasshoff
(1971).
One hesitates to describe a new genus containing only one species, but
the differences from Mangora are too great to include it in that genus. It is
unclear whether the differences result from loss of Mangora characters or are
precursors of Mangora's specialization.
Methods
The method used was the same as in Levi (2005, 2007). The eye placement
and measurements are rough estimates made by viewing from above and
slightly anterior. Sizes and distances of eyes are given in numbers to avoid
verbiage, not to indicate accuracy. Eyes are measured relative to their diameter.
Contributions to Natural History
No. 12: 893–898 · 18 December 2009
A hypothetical line behind the eyes of the posterior row is measured. The
ocular quadrangle is measured by drawing an imaginary line around the eyes.
A "spine" is here considered an immovable pointed structure, while the
strong, movable setae on legs are referred to as "macrosetae".
In illustrations of the posterior view (Figs. 9, 12), the epigyna have the venter up and dorsum down. Directions for locating structures of the palpus in the
illustrations (h) refer to the numbers on the face of a clock. Grasshoff (1973)
studied the palpus of Mangora acalypha. Labeled illustrations of the palpi of
some South American species are in Levi (2007).
Abbreviations used:
AMNH
American Museum of Natural History, New York
CAS
California Academy of Science, San Francisco
MCZ
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Cambridge,
Mass.
Description
Galaporella gen. nov.
Type species: Galaporella thaleri sp. nov. The generic name is an arbitrary
combination of letters, partly based on the name of the type locality of G. thaleri sp. nov. The generic name is feminine.
Diagnosis: Galaporella differs from most araneid genera by having few
setae and a narrow eye region, one-half or less of the total width of the carapace. The abdomen is oval, longer than wide. The thin legs have strong macrosetae that stand up, and do not lie pressed against the appendage. First legs
are subequal to the fourth, the third are shortest.
Galaporella differs from Mangora by lacking the feathered trichobothria on
the tibia of the third leg, and by lacking the bulging thoracic portion of the
carapace.
Galaporella differs from Amazonepeira Levi, 1989, by having a longer, differently shaped carapace (Fig. 5), with a median thoracic groove, by lacking
the narrow annulate scape of the epigynum, and by the large terminal apophysis of the palpus.
Placement: Despite the male palpus of Galaporella having only one patellar macroseta, as in Mangora, the genera are close to Araneus (Levi 2005),
because all have a large terminal apophysis and lack a paramedian apophysis
in the palpus.
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Herbert W. Levi
1
2
5
6
3
7
8
4
11
10
9
12
Figs. 1–12. Galaporella thaleri sp. nov. – 1–4: male; – 1–3: left palpus; – 1: mesal; – 2: submesal; – 3:
ventral; – 4: carapace and abdomen; – 5–12: female; – 5: carapace and abdomen; – 6: sternum and
abdomen; – 7: patella and tibia of third leg; – 8–12: epigynum; – 8, 11: ventral; – 9, 12: posterior; –
10: lateral; – 11, 12: with lost tip. Scalelines: 1 mm; genitalia, 0.1 mm.
A new araneid genus from the Galapagos Islands
895
Galaporella thaleri sp. nov. (Figs. 1–12)
Holotype: Female holotype from Los Gemelos, 585 m, Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, June 1981 (Y. Lubin), in MCZ.
Etymology: The species is named after my late colleague Konrad Thaler.
Description: Female holotype. Prosoma yellowish with black thoracic rim,
grey between anterior median eyes, a median grey to black band (Fig. 5). Chelicerae with a grey patch; labium black; endites with a black streak; sternum
with black frame; black spots at bases of macrosetae on legs may continue
ventrally as black bands. Abdomen with black marks and scattered white pigment spots (Figs. 5, 6). Posterior eye row slightly recurved. Ocular quadrangle
slightly wider than long, rectangular. Posterior median eyes 0.9 diameter of
anterior medians; lateral eyes 0.7 diameter. Anterior median eyes 0.8 diameter
apart, 1.0 from laterals. Posterior median eyes 1.1 diameters apart, 1.2 from
laterals. Height of clypeus equals 0.7 diameter of anterior median eyes. Total
length 4.0 mm. Carapace 2.1 mm long, 1.6 wide in thoracic region, 0.8 wide
behind lateral eyes, 0.8 high. First femur 2.6 mm, patella and tibia 2.8, metatarsus 2.3, tarsus 1.0. Second patella and tibia 2.4 mm, third 1.5, fourth 2.3.
Male paratype. Prosoma yellowish, carapace with a wide longitudinal band
(as in Fig. 4). Sternum yellow, legs with black spots at bases of macrosetae.
Abdomen [damaged] with sides dark. Posterior eye row procurved. Ocular
quadrangle slightly wider than long, slightly widest anteriorly. Posterior median eyes 0.8 diameter of anterior medians; lateral eyes 0.7 diameter. Anterior
median eyes 0.9 diameter apart, 0.4 from laterals. Posterior median eyes 1.0
diameter apart, 1.0 from laterals. Height of clypeus equals 0.8 diameter of
anterior median eyes. Total length 2.0 mm. Carapace 1.2 mm long, 0.8 wide
in thoracic region, 0.4 wide behind lateral eyes, 0.4 high. First femur 1.7 mm,
patella and tibia 1.9, metatarsus 1.6, tarsus 0.7. Second patella and tibia 1.5
mm, third 0.8, fourth 1.4.
Variation: Total length of females 3.8 to 4.0 mm, males 1.6 to 2.0. Figs. 1
and 3 are from a male paratype from Santa Cruz Island; Figs. 2, 4 from Pinta
Island. Figs. 5, 6, 8–10 are from the female holotype; Figs. 11, 12 from San
Cristobal Island; Fig. 7 from a female paratype.
Diagnosis: Epigynum is very small, the scape has a large swollen tip with a
fold, (Figs. 8–10). The tip is broken in some specimens; it probably fractured
when mating (Figs. 11, 12). (Two of the seven females collected had the tip,
others had lost it.)
The male palpus has a median apophysis tipped by a large spine (4 h in
Fig. 1, 8 h in Fig. 3), a soft conductor (above the median apophysis in Fig. 2),
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Herbert W. Levi
and the tegulum has a thorn (center of Fig. 3). The palpus, as in Mangora has
a large terminal apophysis (12 h in Figs. 1, 2; 11 h in Fig. 3). The complicated
palpus looks different in slight shifts of view.
Natural history: The holotype from Los Gemelos was collected "in the humid
zone", a female from San Cristobal was found "in web under an overhang of a
stream bank", and a male came "from sweepnet samples at low elevation in
grassland" on Pinta Island (Lubin, personal communication).
Paratypes: Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, Santa Cruz Island: Los Gemelos,
586 m, June 1981, 1 ♀ (Y. Lubin 321, MCZ); 4 km N of Bellavista Media Luna,
620 m, Miconia Zone, 14 May to 13 July 1985, 1 ♂ (S. and J. Peck, AMNH);
Table Mountain, 440 m, 16 Apr. 1964, 3 ♀ (D. Q. Cavagnaro, CAS).
Specimens examined: Ecuador, Galapagos Islands, San Cristobal Island:
Encanyada del platano, ca. 1560 m, 27 Apr. 1982, 1 ♀ (Y. Lubin 414, MCZ).
Pinta Island: Abingdon, 400 m, 7 Feb. 1982, 1 ♂ (Y. Lubin 364, MCZ). Fernandina Island: west side, 330 m, 5 Feb. 1964, 1 ♀ (D. Q. Cavagnaro, CAS).
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the curators and former curators of the American Museum of Natural History, W. J. Gertsch, J. A. L. Cooke, N. Platnick, L. Sorkin and of the California Academy of Sciences, D. Ubick and C. Griswold. Also my gratitude goes
to Laura Leibensperger for help and careful reading and correcting the manuscript, and to Yael Lubin for giving habitat information on the specimens she
collected.
References
Grasshoff, M. (1971): Die Tribus Mangorini, IV. Die Mangora-Gruppe (Arachnida: Araneae:
Araneidae-Araneinae). — Senckenbergiana biologica 52: 293–311.
Grasshoff, M. (1973): Bau und Mechanik der Kopulationsorgane der Radnetzspinne Mangora acalypha (Arachnida, Araneae). — Zeitschrift für Morphologie der Tiere. 74: 241–252.
Levi, H.W. (2005): The orb-weaver genus Mangora of Mexico, Central America and the
West Indies (Araneae: Araneidae). — Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 158:
139–181.
Levi, H.W. (2007): The orb weaver genus Mangora of South America (Araneae: Araneidae). —
Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 159: 1–144.
A new araneid genus from the Galapagos Islands
897
Address of the author:
Prof. Dr. Herbert W. Levi
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University
Cambridge, Mass. O2138, United States
898
Herbert W. Levi